Every year since moving to Powell, I've looked forward to going up into the higher elevations to gather a few more photo opportunities with springtime moose. My first trip up which was this past week, was stellar, to say the least, as I seemed to be surrounded by them at my normal spots! It seems I got to spend almost four hours taking photos of them, which worked out to a total of 16 that day. My best happens to be 27 in one single day, quite a few years ago.

Presently, the total moose population in the whole state numbers close to 4,000 animals in various locations. Back in the early 2000's our population was up around 13,000, so at 4,000, you can see we're quite a bit lower these days.

Why?, well habitat loss, climate change, nutritional issues and wolves and grizzly depredation all have added to the lower numbers.

Moose are the largest members of the deer family. Bull moose can weigh up to 1,000 pounds and they stand about 7.5 feet tall and they can live up to 20 years.

Their scientific name is alces alces shirasi, named after early Western explorer George Shiras. From what I have been told the Wyoming moose is smaller than the moose in Maine, and and if your're looking for the largest moose then you need to head on up to Alaska. For me. I'll take ours every springtime!